Beyond the Surface
by Azura Nyx
Summary: Chloe learns to peer deeper into Dr. Rush's personality.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Beyond the Surface

**Author: **Azura Nyx

**Characters: **Nicholas Rush/Chloe Armstrong, Everette Young, Eli Wallace

**Type: **Comfort/Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

**Length: **~3,900 words, 4 chapters

**Warnings/Author's Notes: **There are spoilers for "Human" and "Air Part 2"

**Rating: **PGish (K+)

**Summary:**Chloe learns to peer deeper into Dr. Rush's personality.

**Chapter 1**

In all her days of being aboard the Destiny, Chloe Armstrong never imagined she would be stuck on a tropical island with Dr. Nicholas Rush. All they were trying to do was find more alien technology, not get trapped on the damn planet. She peered over to the brooding, Scottish scientist as he used the computer pad to configure a calculation that may allow them to return to the Destiny before it jumped into FTL.

_Of all people to be trapped on a planet with, why did it have to be him_, Armstrong silently began thinking to herself.

"You never did fully explain why we can't just use the gate, Dr. Rush," impatiently remarked Chloe.

Nicholas sighed with frustration and peered over to his left where Ms. Armstrong was sitting next to him. "Oh? So you didn't hear the one-thousandth time I've mentioned, 'We don't have a DHD pad with us, and using the stargate's DHD on this planet would cause a major system overload,' then," he sarcastically answered.

"Of _course_ I heard you say that, but you didn't clarify as to _why _it would cause a system overload!"

"Forgive me for being so blunt, Ms. Armstrong," a very pissed-off Nicholas started. "I know what you are trying to do and though I _greatly _appreciate it, you wouldn't understand this stuff anyway. You are not going to be much help. In fact, the _best _way you can assist me is to shut up and stop asking _stupid _questions!"

Infuriated, Chloe raised herself up from the lush, green grass and began to walk away into the forest.

"Where do you think you're going," inquired the apprehensive Dr. Rush.

"You're the genius! I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Okay, fine! I get that you're angry with me, but you can't just _run off_!"

Ms. Armstrong folded her arms across her chest. "Why not?"

"We have no idea what's out there," surmised Nicholas.

"Exactly! That's why I'm going to go into the forest and look around. Maybe there are some fruits, vegetables, or… whatever to eat."

"Yeah, and perhaps there are some wild animals in there that would eat _us_!"

Waving her hand in dismissal, Chloe merely said, "Whatever. You can either stay here or come with me. It's your choice. I'm going to explore the forest."

Without uttering another word, Armstrong went into the forest and Dr. Rush continued with his calculations. "Damn kids these days," he angrily mumbled.

The forest was absolutely beautiful! Chloe was fascinated by all of the vegetation here. She gently picked a fruit almost identical to a raspberry on Earth and ate it, savoring its sweet juices as it slid down her throat.

_Oh my god! I haven't had fruit like this in months_, Armstrong reflected.

She began picking as many as her bag would hold for herself and Dr. Rush. After all, there was no telling when they could finally return to the Destiny.

Leaves rustled and Chloe briskly turned around. Thinking it was only her imagination, she continued with her berry picking. Another minute or so passed and Ms. Armstrong heard movement behind her again, this time it was closer… much, much closer. She turned around and there really was something behind her. The creature was large; the size of a dinosaur and gold colored.

Instinctively, Chloe's eyes widened in fear and she screamed louder than she ever had in her life. Though running as fast as her legs could take her, she knew it was going to make her tired very quickly. It would be close to impossible to out-run the thing! If this wasn't bad enough, Armstrong tripped over an enormous rock. She tried relentlessly to get back up and continue running, but she couldn't: her leg was severely sprained. Chloe whimpered in pain, crawling away from the monster as hastily as possible. When the creature approached her, it came nearly face-to-face.

"Look over here, you over-sized bird," cried a familiar voice. It worked! The dinosaur- like creature directed its attention to Nicholas Rush, who was now shooting his M6C Socom Pistol at the beast. Granted, the gun was a small weapon but 100 shots through the head and torso area and 5 re-loads later, it finally killed the dinosaur.

Dr. Rush sprinted to Chloe. "Are you alright," he asked.

"No," Ms. Armstrong answered while trying to keep conscious. The pain was so intense that it was hard for her to remain alert. "My leg is sprained badly. I-I don't think I can walk."

"Okay. I'll carry you back." Chloe nodded in approval and Nicholas lifted her up from the ground. Shortly before they left the forest, however, she passed out. After making a soft bed made of bamboo for Chloe, the only thing Rush found he could do is sporadically monitor her pulse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Dusk was just beginning to set when Ms. Armstrong finally regained consciousness. She peered about her surroundings and noticed the ace bandage wrapped around her ankle. Chloe also found Dr. Rush sitting by the ocean shore, aimlessly staring out into the distance.

"Thank-you," Chloe sweetly remarked to Rush.

Surprised by the abrupt utterance of words, Nicholas looked up and replied, "You're awake! I was beginning to wonder how long you would be out of it."

Armstrong grinned slightly and sat down next to the scientist. They were quiet at first when the nervous Chloe simply mentioned, "You saved my life."

"It was nothing, truly," Rush answered, pretending to be distracted with the calculations on his computer pad.

"It _was_ something," protested Ms. Armstrong. "If it hadn't of been for you, I'm pretty sure I would be dead."

"Yeah, and if you had listened to me in the first place…."

"Oh, here we go! You just couldn't resist saying, 'I told you so,' huh?"

Looking over at Chloe for the first time in two minutes, Nicholas boldly retorted, "It's the truth, isn't it?"

"At least going into the forest hadn't been _completely_ without its advantages," Armstrong implied. Dr. Rush shot her a bewildering glance. "I found some berries in there."

Nicholas held out his hand, silently pleading for the juicy morsels. Chloe teasingly smirked and shook her head 'no.'

"Oh, come on! I'm starving, and I saved your life, remember?"

"I see how it is! _Now_ you're acknowledging that you helped me."

"Okay, okay! Stop playing games, Chloe," Dr. Rush exclaimed. "I'm a hard-working man here who needs food!"

Ms. Armstrong couldn't help but to laugh. It was amusing and cute for her to see Rush beg for something to the point where he called her by her first name. That was the first time Nicholas ever did that, and it was…different. Nevertheless, Chloe handed the hungry scientist a handful of berries.

Dr. Rush stuffed the fruit in his mouth. "Finally!"

Until they both went to bed, Chloe and Nicholas had been talking and joking around. Neither one of them really knew how much they would actually grow to enjoy each other's company. In fact, Ms. Armstrong had a difficult time getting Dr. Rush out of her mind as she lay restless on the bamboo mattress. The sleep deprived woman couldn't help it after seeing another side of the man she vowed to hate forever. Eventually, Chloe drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was early morning now and Nicholas had been sitting by the bonfire he made shortly after waking up, which had been over an hour ago. The calculations Dr. Rush was working on had proven to be unsuccessful.

_Good God, this is getting ridiculous_, the scientist thought as he through the computer pad to the ground in frustration. It seemed…so hopeless and such a waste of time. After all, Dr. Rush had been configuring the calculations for nearly a day and a half now. He brushed his hand through his medium-length, brown hair, trying to relieve the tension of the current events from his mind.

Chloe had woken up only recently, but it was long enough for her to see Nicholas's frustration. Although the woman could never admit it, she pitied him; and so Ms. Armstrong walked up behind the troubled man and began massaging his neck.

"You really mustn't sneak up on me like that," tiresomely commented Nicholas.

Being marginally sarcastic and continuing to give Rush a massage, Armstrong responded, "You're welcome."

"Well… I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay… really. I understand how people can say things they don't really mean while under stress."

The woman stopped massaging Rush's neck a few minutes later.

With a crooked smile of gratitude etched on his face, Nicholas said, "Thank-you."

"It's no trouble," benevolently answered Chloe as she sat herself down next to Dr. Rush. After pondering where they were at, and the area's conditions, Ms. Armstrong continued, "You know… perhaps this planet isn't so bad."

Rush frowned instantaneously. "How do you figure that?"

"Well… we have the resources we need to survive, right? The planet itself is like a huge rain forest with plenty to eat, and… the scenery isn't too bad either."

"I would rather be on board the Destiny. There are no gigantic, gold dinosaurs."

Her wide grin turning into a chuckle, Chloe simply replied, "I can't argue with you on that one."

"Why did you agree to come with me on this mission, anyhow? You would've saved yourself a lot of trouble."

"I just… wanted adventure, and it had been a while since I've been off the ship. I needed to get away for a bit."

"It seems to me that you got way more than you bargained for," remarked Nicholas, smirking a little.

Chloe returned the friendly smile. "That depends on how the person views the situation, I guess. I don't perceive this event as useless, but… more of a learning experience."

"Learning experience?"

"Uh-huh."

Rush chortled, but not in a disrespectful sort of way. Rather, it was out of surprise more than anything. "I've never thought of it _that _way before."

"It's hard to, you know. I have trouble with it sometimes too," sincerely remarked Chloe as she stared out toward the glimmering ocean, pausing for quite a few minutes before continuing her statement. "When my father died, I wasn't sure if I could ever go on living. I-it was so… traumatic and arbitrary that I didn't believe anything necessary or significant could come from his death, but it did."

The Scottish scientist was left speechless for a little while. He was fairly astonished by Ms. Armstrong's abrupt decision to have a very candid discussion with him. Furthermore, Nicholas was surprised that she would be talking to him about the Senator's death when she was the one who initially blamed him for the man's fate.

_Is she trying to apologize to me without saying the exact words_, Dr. Rush silently wondered.

Instead of asking this query aloud, however, Nicholas simply replied to Armstrong, "That's understandable. It's only human to be angry over a situation like that. God knows I have been that way many times ever since….-"

"What?"

Peering toward the sandy ground in obvious aversion by the words he was going to blurt out, Rush tried to divert the conversation elsewhere. "Never mind. So… you were saying that good things came from your father's passing. I assume you are referring to Lieutenant Scott."

"No, I wasn't." Chloe became apprehensive at Nicholas's immediate attempt to change the subject, but she let it slide for the time being. This was getting to be an excellent conversation and she Armstrong didn't want to ruin it. "Actually, I meant that-"

A blue-tinted light impulsively beamed Chloe and Rush upon a spacecraft. It frightened them at first… until Ms. Armstrong and Dr. Rush materialized and saw they were aboard the Destiny.

"How did you…," a very hesitant Nicholas Rush began to speak upon seeing Colonel Everett Young.

Indicating the 'math-boy' standing to his left, Everett responded, "Eli here found some Asgard technology aboard the ship."

"Really? You must show me what you found, Eli," Rush said to him as they began to walk off to the lab. "We'll have to start simulations right away…."

Chloe stood frozen in place for a few seconds, staring off at Eli and Nicholas heading to the tech lab. Furrowing his eyebrows in puzzlement, the Colonel walked up to her. "Are you alright? You seem… out-of-it. Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"N-no, I'm fine," she lied, forcing a grin to appear on her lips. "Just… letting everything sink in, you know."

"I'm sure being trapped on that planet was a little unsettling, but I can assure you that everything will go back to normal."

"Great."

Without another word, the tattered woman strolled back to her room, unpacked and slept for the rest of the evening. Being stranded on a planet wasn't the best event Chloe experienced in her life, but… somehow, Dr. Rush's presence made the circumstance slightly bearable even if she hadn't realized that at first. In a way, Ms. Armstrong wished it hadn't of ended so quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

One Week Later:

Chloe was lying on her bed and listening to some music on her iPod before getting ready for the new day. She felt very serene and calm. The days had been going a lot smoother since returning from the planet, which was nice considering the alternative: daily events going completely haywire. Of course, this was a rare opportunity. There were not very many days where someone aboard the ship wasn't killed, or when a horrible, random accident didn't occur. So as to take advantage of this assumingly 'normal' day, Ms. Armstrong decided to get dressed and head for the main control room.

Coincidently, Armstrong had entered the room at the perfect time. She caught glimpse of the shimmering, iridescent blue/purple lighting flowing over the Destiny as it traveled through FTL. Chloe gently placed her hands on the rail and embedded the incredible view into her mind. It was amazing how entrancing the sight could be! A person could literally gaze into space and view these glimmering colors and never want to remove their eyes from the scenery. In fact, the colors were so admirable that Chloe didn't hear Dr. Rush open the hatch and walk in until:

"I see you found my secret getaway spot, Ms. Armstrong" good-naturedly commented Nicholas as he stood beside her.

Looking over to the scientist, Chloe kindly responded with a slight grin, "Yeah? Not much of a secret now though, is it?"

Dr. Rush leaned against the rail. "No, I guess not," he chuckled, and then peered out into space at the gorgeous colors.

"Can I tell you something that has been on my mind for quite some time," Armstrong inquired to Nicholas, her eyes furrowing in utter contemplation.

"Sure."

"Do you remember when we got stranded on that planet and…I told you that I considered that incident a learning experience?"

Nodding his head in affirmation, Rush answered, "I… do vaguely recall a similar discussion like that. Yes."

"I don't believe I ever had the chance to fully explain what I was referring to. My father's death was a learning experience for me and good things came from it, but it wasn't because people have been so kind to me. In fact, I seem to have learned more from those who didn't show me such friendly gestures in the past."

"Like…."

At the moment, all Chloe wanted to do was turn around and walk away. She knew the reply she was about to give Dr. Rush could potentially offend him, but somehow… the woman looked him in the eyes and said:

"You."

Silence fell between Nicholas and Armstrong for quite a few seconds. It wasn't until Rush decided to speak that the discussion continued on.

"I'm sorry. I guess I don't understand," the man said, bewilderment etched all over his face. "Are you saying I've… mistreated-"

"No! God, no," a very worried Chloe answered. "All I'm saying is this: you've always perceived me as a normal human being even though I was the daughter of a U.S senator. I don't feel… babied when I'm around you. I feel like myself. Also, we both know I initially blamed you for my father's death. I vowed to myself that I would never show you respect or compassion from that day forward, but now…I-I-I don't know. Ever since we were stuck on that planet, I don't see you like that anymore."

All Nicholas found he could say in response to this was, "Thank-you for that."

"There's something else: just before we were beamed up to the ship, you were going to say something about how upset you can feel under certain circumstances ever since an event in your life happened. What was that event?"

Upon hearing this inquiry, Dr. Rush decided to end this conversation. He walked over to the control panel and said as he did so, "I lost track of time! I'm very sorry, but I have to get to work on this calculation. Eli will be returning from breakfast very soon."

"Wait a second," exclaimed Chloe. "You deterred this discussion the last time. I know it's painful, but… it helps to talk about these things. Please, tell me."

"Who died and made you psychiatrist? Leave me in peace, will you?"

Ms. Armstrong pressed the button to open the sliding door. "Fine. I'll go, but you will never emotionally survive on this ship unless you become more open to people. When you're ready to grasp that, I'm here to listen."

Later that day, Rush had seen Chloe sitting alone in the mess hall. They were the only ones the in the room seeing as they were late for dinner when everybody else had been there. Apprehensively, Nicholas walked over toward Ms. Armstrong.

"May I sit here with you," kindly asked Dr. Rush. Instead of answering with words, however, Chloe just nodded affirmatively. "I'm very sorry to have spoken to you the way I did earlier-"

"No, no… it's fine, really. I shouldn't have attempted to pry into your personal life like that."

"You're right that I was avoiding the situation, and I wasn't ready to tell anyone about this. However, I feel like I can say something to you about it now."

"You really don't have to…."

"I know I don't, but I feel like I should. My wife died from cancer a few years ago. For the longest time, I didn't think I could cope with it." At this point, Nicholas was viciously holding back his tears. "During the last few months of Gloria's life, I completely indulged myself in the stargate program, trying to concentrate on the science of it, the calculations…etc. Essentially, I was trying to distract myself from what was going to happen…or… something along those lines."

"My God! I'm so sorry," Chloe sympathetically answered. "With something so… inevitable like that you must've felt hopeless."

Dr. Rush couldn't fight the tears any longer; they streamed down his face in rapid droplets. He turned away in embarrassment, but Armstrong raised herself from her seat and hugged the weeping man. Under normal circumstances, Nicholas wouldn't have hugged back… it just wasn't an aspect that his personality contained, but he did this time. Chloe kissed his cheek and gradually moved to his lips. At first, Rush couldn't bring himself to resist. It just felt so good to be this close to somebody. He eventually did bring himself to pull her away, however.

"I'm sorry, but… I just can't do this. Not now," admitted Nicholas Rush.

Ashamed, Chloe held her head and peered to the floor for a few seconds. "You're completely right. I… shouldn't have imposed that when I knew you weren't ready, but I just thought that you needed to know how I felt about you."

"That's what surprises me, actually. Aren't you in love with Lieutenant Scott, or… Eli? They're more your age."

"Well… I _was _in love with Matthew…," Ms. Armstrong timidly began. "But it didn't work out. We just have different perceptions of life, I guess."

"And Eli? I wasn't supposed to say anything, but I've heard the math boy fancies you."

"He's a very sweet guy, truly. It's just that…."

"-…you find him immature?"

Chloe simply nodded her head in response.

Nicholas wasn't certain of how to tell Armstrong that he could never be with her although he knew it needed to be said. It would be difficult because Chloe had quite a few characteristics that Rush liked in a woman.

Softly clenching his fist to allow himself to say those crucial words, however, Nicholas finally remarked, "You are such a bright, intelligent woman. Anyone would be lucky to have you, but I'm sorry to say that I can't be that man. If you stop thinking too hard about love, you _will _find the right person for you. It's an unexpected happenstance and, to be honest, that's how I found my late wife. The fact of the matter is, Ms. Armstrong, I still love her even though she's gone."

"I understand completely, Dr. Rush." Without another word, Chloe sweetly touched Nicholas's shoulder and left the cafeteria.

The scientist was now left alone in the quiet room, and all he could do was think. Rush didn't know if he even believed what he told the woman; about his perception of love and all that. Hell! He wasn't even sure if he knew what the word meant anymore. Regardless, the man said those words so as to maintain order, however much of it actually existed here, aboard the Destiny. It would have to suffice for now. Nicholas was willing to say and do anything in order to keep this mission successful…for the sake of the crew.


End file.
